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Senate Democrats wonder: How can we pressure the House into passing amnesty?

The top two Senate Democrats believe that the push to win more GOP senators could significantly water down the measure, arguing their party should instead focus on the more achievable goal of securing the 60 votes needed to break an expected Republican filibuster. The Democratic leaders don’t believe they should make major concessions to conservatives — mainly on issues such as border security — in order to inflate the vote tally.

But Schumer argues that if Democrats win only a handful of Senate Republicans, the House will balk at the Senate’s approach, imperiling the push for a comprehensive bill in this Congress…

Some Democrats privately gripe that Schumer has been too quick to placate Republicans given that the House remains incredibly unpredictable. The thinking is that a fierce public relations campaign — and the bully pulpit from President Barack Obama — could be enough to propel a handful of Republicans to support the bill largely intact, and pressure the House into action.

Schumer’s 70-vote goal – which he has declared publicly several times – has unnecessarily raised expectations, critics say.

“He’s out of his comfort zone: Confusing legislative strategy with effective messaging,” according to a Senate Democratic source familiar with the matter.

I don’t see enough GOP members of the House educating people on the joke that is Rubio’s bill. I can’t help thinking that it’d be great to see a guy like Jim Jordan from Ohio doing repeated segments on the weaknesses of the bill. He strikes me as a commonsense, believable conservative.

Too many Americans have no idea what’s in this amnesty bill, and they’ll object violently when they do.

The point should be made that Boehner will not be affected by supporting amnesty. He lives in my brother’s gated community, so Boehner probably sees this as way to decrease his community fees by the increased competition in the lawncare industry that amnesty will trigger. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his later years picking up the phone and contacting the myriad of contacts that he’s probably accumulated on behalf of his children and grandchildren so that they never want for lucrative employment, regardless of their background and ability.

Are we going to get border and internal security first in a standalone bill? If not, there are no major concessions being offered.

I think the Cornyn amendment is a conspiracy between pro-amnesty Republicans and Schumer/Reid to trick moronic Republicans into supporting the bill. Schumer and Reid will gnash their teeth and wail abut how tough the amendment is but will agree to it if it “moves the bill forward”.

We must demand security before anything else. We wouldn’t be having this debate if the federal government hadn’t shirked its duty for decades.

boehner has already said he wants to pass ‘something’…he only needs a small number of Rs to go with the D block vote…piece of cake. The Camber of Commerce will give him a very nice retirement party after that, then he’ll make tons of money doing what pols do when they retire.

unless he stops and thinks about the devastation it will bring to the middle and working class in OH

Nothing. The 3 stooges in House leadership have been running scared since Obama’s reelection. They’ve purged conservatives from positions of power. They have already passed 5 bills with minority support of the Republican caucus. We would have had the same results if Pelosi was the speaker.

I’m sure there is already a deal on the Cornyn amendment. They are probably just working out the timing of the release to the senators and then the public disclosure which will be followed by a wave of endorsements.

I don’t think Boehner will really show his hand one moment before he has to. Remember the gun bill? We were all hyperventilating into the nearest paper sack, and it turned out the Senate killed the whole thing—largely because a lot of Senators on the fence were not sure how Boehner was going to go, and had their ‘nads flapping in the breeze when the Senate finally voted.

If a lack of butt-coverage by a known outcome in the House can flip enough Senators to kill the bill in the Senate, that is the ideal outcome.

Also bear in mind that the gun bill was meant to soften up the House for the amnesty vote. Ayotte’s chickening out is largely due to the flack from the gun bill in the Senate. That bill never reached the House, and Shepard Fairey’s little opus was too late. So this does give me hope that the House will be better able to afford to kill the bill.